Dissolve lemon gelatin in one cup of water in a double boiler, add marshmellows and stir to melt. Remove from heat. Add pineapple juice and cream cheese. Beat until well blended. Cool slightly. Fold in mayo.

If you have a truffle candy mold or round ice cube trays, pour the mixture in the molds and leave it to set in the frig. Otherwise pour into a deep ceramic dish and chill until thickened or firm enough for scooping into eyeballs.

Using a melonscooper, scoop full balls of mixture and set aside for decoration. To decorate use liquid food coloring and an old detail paintbrush and get creative. You will need black food coloring for the pupils. Also if you are in a hurry, instead of painting the colored irises, you can cafefully dip the ball in a small pool of food coloring to approximate the iris, but still paint the pupils. For additional "how too's" on these....here is the link to Britta's to see how great hers look, she has the most wonderful web site!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out each sheet of puff pastry in a lightly floured board until it is 10 by 12 inches. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the surface of the pastry. Sprinkle each sheet evenly with 1/4 cup of the parmesian cheese, 1/2 cup of the gruyere, 1/2 teaspoon of the thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of the kosher salt and some pepper.

With the rolling pin, lightly press the flavorings into the puff pastry. Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife into 11 or 12 strips. Twist each strip and lay on the baking sheets lined with parchment. Don't stretch the dough with twisting and if its to warm.....stick in frig to cool a bit and then twist.

Bake 10 - 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed. Turn each straw and bake another 2 minutes. Don't overbake or the cheese will burn. Cool and serve at room temperature.

Here is a recipe from our Dear Morticia, she calls it "Select Organ Cuts" and serves it for all her parties that She and Gomez have!

Select Organ Cuts

There are a few different ways I make my cheese trays and they all work quite well! You can do a wooden cutting board with chunks of various cheeses or you can cube your cheese and place it either on a tiered serving tray or just on a party tray.

I look at how many people I am having and what other food is on the table. I always try to use some sort of real flowers and greenery along with grapes and other assorted fruits.

My Dad was a chef in Chicago all of his life and he always preached>>>>>You feed people with their eyes first and the visual should be strong enough to entice them to have to taste whats on the presented plate.

Cheese & Cracker Tray

The below suggestions are from my good friend "The Barefoot Contessa"......I just love the way Ina cooks & her presentation of foods.

Assembling a stunning fruit tray and cheese platter requires no cooking. I follow a few key principles to be sure it looks festive and is easy for guests to help themselves. First I choose an interesting assortment of cheeses, hard sharp cheeses, soft creamy ones and very pungent blue cheeses. I look for an interesting mix of flavors, textures and colors. For example: French Camembert, Le Chevot, (a sharp goat cheese), Rodin with herbs (a creamy goat cheese) and Montagnolo ( a creamy blue cheese)

Go to the best cheese shop in town and ask the person behind the counter which cheeses are ready to serve. Taste everything....they expect you to. We all know the brie may look terrific, but it can be under-ripe and tough or over-ripe and ammoniated. You only want the freshest cheeses that are perfectly ripened. Take them home, refrigerate them nd then bring them to room temperature a few hours before serving.

Second be sure to have a platter or wooden board that is flat and large enough to hold cheese without crowding them. Arrange the cheeses with the cut sides facing out, and with several small cheese knives, maybe one for each type.

Third, to finish the platter,add sliced breads and crackers, and green leaves. I use either lemon or galax leaves which you can get from your florist. If you have a garden, any large flat leaf like hydrangea looks beautiful, but be sure they aren't poisonous and are pesticide free.

Overall the simpler the design, the better the platter looks. Group each kind of cheese together and add a large bunch of green or red grapes in the center to create a visual focal point. Fill in the spaces with lots of crackers and small slices of bread.

Last season I bought the molds....... large eye, heart, brain, hand, and a skeleton. Gonna start working with what I can make with these.

In a large frying pan, add a little oil & add chopped up onions. Saute onion for a few seconds & add 2 lbs. of ground beef ( can also use 1 lb. of ground beef & 1 lb. of ground pork). Add package of taco seasoning, mix in well with the meat & onions. Cook till meat is done.

Pre-packaged grated cheeses have a lot of preservatives added to them & the cheese just taste different then freshly grated. They never taste as good or melt evenly

Also be careful what kind of cheese you select. Some cheeses have a bitter taste & some just do not melt well.

Open your Pinto Beans & Refried Beans. Put your meat mixture back into the frying pan with the heat on medium & add both cans of beans to the meat mixture, mix in well.

Distribute chips evenly over a cookie sheet or use your oven broiler pan. I stack my chips on top of each other.

Now with a spoon, distribute the meat/bean mixture evenly over the chips. Cover the top with your grated cheese & sprinkle the sliced jalapenas on top of the cheese. Sprinkle chili powder over the cheese just a bit for color. Add a dash of dried cilantro here if you like or for a spicier taste chop fresh cilantro real fine and sprinkle on top of the nachos just before serving.

Be careful with sharp cheddars, the flavor varies. I use the Walmart brand cheese found in their cheese case. Its a good flavor cheese & comes in large & small paks.It also melts very smoothly & holds its shape well when removed from the oven. This cheese is available in cheddar, colby, monteray jack & I use the mozzarello for all my italian dishes..

You can use as much cheese as you like but to much overpowers the nacho. With 2lbs. of beef & chips in the bottom of my oven pan I use about 1 lb. of grated cheese which is half of the large Walmart cheddar.

While grating your cheese also drain your sliced jalepenas. You can use as many jalepenas as you like, but make sure they are drained well.

Heres what your nachos look like after they come out of the oven. The key to cooking crispy nachos that are not water logged which then causes them to be soggy is - well drained ingredients & fast assembly, then right into the oven to cook.

If you follow these instructions your nachos should come out of the oven & be able to sit at room temperature & remain crispy & not get soggy.

Please Note: This is a great recipe to serve at your parties. The recipe is from Britta's Halloween web site. The way she makes these is fascinating considering how life like they look. She now has a video on you tube showing us step by step how she creates the magic. Please tune in there for instructions for this recipe.

2. In a bowl sprinkle unflavored gelatin evenly over cold water for 2 minutes. Stir in the boiling water until gelatin begins to dissolve then stir in the black cherry jello until all is dissolved. Stir in Vodka.

3. Pour 3/4 cup of the mixture in the food coloring to make the mixture a blueish-purple color. Pour 1/4 of that mixture into a small bowl & place in the frig to thicken till almost set.

4. Fill a needleless syringe or a medicine dropper with the thickened gelatin & apply it to the veins in the mold. If the mold is cold enough the gelatin should stick.

5. Place the mold back in the freezer & return any unused gelatin back in the bowl with the blueish-purple gelatin & leave it at room temperature.

6. Meanwhile in the first bowl, stir unsweetened condensed milk until mixture is even. Refrigerate until slightly thickened. Gently pour in mold. Refrigerate until gelatin is set but not firm (should stick to your finger when touched).

7. Then gently pour the blueish-purple gelatin into the mold. Refrigerate until firm.

8. To unmold dip the mold up to the rim in warm water for about 15 seconds. Cover with plate & invert.

9. Melt down some strawberry jelly in the microwave. Allow to cool a bit so it will not melt the gelatin heart & pour jelly around heart on the plate to make blood.

2. In a small bowl dissolve gelatin in water. When gelatin is dissolved stir into soup mixture.

3. In a large mixing bowl stir togetheronions, shrimp, mayo & hot sauce. Stir in soup mixture & spread evenly into mold that has been sprayed with Pam.

4. Cover with film wrap. Chill for several hours or overnight.Unmold by dipping in warm water for a few seconds & then invert onto serving platter. Surround with different kinds of crackers. Use kale garnish .